Certain types of data storage devices, such as, for example, magnetic hard disk drives, include a ramp located near the outer circumference of a magnetic disk. The ramp provides a region into which a slider that carries the read/write transducer(s) is retracted when the disk is not being accessed.
After being loaded from the ramp to the magnetic disk, and while the slider is in the vicinity of the ramp, the flying posture of the slider can be unstable. For example, the slider can pitch and roll more in this region than it typically does when flying over other portions of the disk. Accordingly, there is a higher probability that the slider will contact the recording surface of the magnetic disk in this region of the disk, potentially causing damage to the recording surface. Thus, in the vicinity of the ramp, near the outer circumference of the magnetic disk, an area of the disk may be unused for recording due to the higher-than-typical potential for contact between the slider and the recording surface when the slider moves on and off the ramp.
Because the ramp and the unused area of the recording surface are near the outer circumference of the disk, a relatively large portion of the recording surface may be unused for recording. Consequently, there is an ongoing need to reduce the size of the area of the recording surface that is unused because of the relatively higher potential of the slider making contact with the recording surface in this region.